Train drivers to stage five day strike next month

Train drivers on LNER are to stage a five-day strike next month in their long running pay dispute.

The action, from February 5, is in addition to a series of walkouts against train operators across England previously announced by Aslef.

The LNER (London North Eastern Railway) drivers will also refuse to work any non-contractual overtime from February 7 to 10.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef said: "We have given LNER management, and their government counterparts who hold the purse strings, every opportunity to come to the table and they have so far made no realistic offer to our members.

"We have not heard from the transport secretary since December 2022, or from the train operating companies since April 2023.

"It's time for them to come to the table and work with us to resolve this dispute so we can all move forward and get our railway back on track."

Aslef members across England will ban overtime for nine days from February 29 and strike against individual train operators on different days between January 30 and February 5.

The dispute started in the summer of 2022 and shows little sign of being resolved.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: "Ministers and train bosses must stop playing political games and get around the negotiating table. That's how to put an end to these disputes.

"But they appear to be more interested in stoking tensions than finding a way through.

"The Department for Transport - on the orders of the Prime Minister - has stonewalled talks with Aslef for a year now.

"That's not good faith engagement and negotiation - it's deliberate intransigence.

"Instead of sitting down with unions for talks, ministers have pushed through draconian legislation to make it harder for working people to win better pay and conditions.

"Now ministers are cynically using this dispute to distract from their multiple failures."